Henry Parks is perhaps as much of a mystery man as his father Samuel. The only reason we know his name, and the fact that he was married to Elizabeth Thomas, is that those names appear on the death certificate of his son Jacob Parks (1834-1919). Jacob's death certificate also stated Henry's place of birth as North Carolina, and Elizabeth's as Virginia.

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The oldest known child of Henry and Elizabeth (Thomas) Parks is Mary Ann Parks (b. 19 January 1824) and in later censuses, Elizabeth (Thomas) (Parks) Bell's date of birth is about 1805, which would have made her about nineteen years old at the time of Mary Ann's birth. Generally, grooms were slightly older than brides, so we estimate Henry's date of birth between 1800-1803, though he well could have been several years older. 

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Henry appears to have died between 1838-40, as the youngest known son, James, was born about 1838 and Elizabeth Parks appears as head of household in the 1840 Monroe County, Tennessee census. Elizabeth (Thomas) Parks married Thomas J. Bell sometime between 1840 and 1844 when their first child, Bethna Jane Bell, was born. No record of either marriage survives, likely due to a courthouse fire in Monroe County or the razing of the courthouse during the Civil War.

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Given the fact that Henry and Elizabeth Parks were married and had two children born prior to 1830, it is both curious and frustrating that they are nowhere to be found in the 1830 census in Roane, Monroe, or any of the nearby counties in East Tennessee. 

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We find Elizabeth (Thomas) Parks, now married to Thomas J. Bell, in the 1850 Monroe County, Tennessee census, and all the children are listed with the Bell surname.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know, however, that John, David, Reuben, Jacob, and James are Parkses, sons of Henry Parks. Only the two youngest, Bethna and Daniel, were Bells, children of this second marriage of Elizabeth. Confirmation of these relationships is found in the Civil War pension file of Jacob Parks, where he identifies Daniel Bell as a half-brother. In addition, the young Daniel Bell served in Company D, 5th Tennessee Infantry (Union) along with his half-brothers David, Reuben, and James Parks and their brother-in-law, Henry Branson, husband of sister Mary Ann Parks. (There is quite a story about the young Daniel Bell, upon his return from the war, avenging the "maltreatment" of his mother, Elizabeth, at the hands of a local rebel sympathizer while he and his brothers were away in the army. I will post it and link it to this page if any of you are interested in reading about it.)​

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